Burnishing machine



March 12, 1957 E. T. sTocKER BURNISHING MACHINE 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 1 Filed March 8, 1954 M m .w mx p C .O w mm n V WS. V T. 8 W .L.

March 12, 1957 E. T. sTocKER 2,784,483

BURNISHING MACHINE Filed March 8. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WMN nited States Patent BURNISHING MACHINE Edward T. Stocker, Groveiand, Mass., assignor to Western Electric Company, lncorporated, New York, N. Y., a Corporation of New York Application March 8, 1954, Serial No. 414,533

1 Claim. (Cl. 29-40) This invention relates to article finishing apparatus and more particularly to`apparatus for burnshing the inner surfaces of cylindrical articles.

One article of this type comprises a thinlfragile fused quartz cylinder used as a component of a transformer and having an inner sur-face plated with metal, such Vas silver, to form an electrostatic shield between the transformer windings. Due to the brittle nature of these cylindrical articles, this finishing operation could not be performed by the conventional apparatus but instead new apparatus had to be designed to delicately but firmly hold the articles singly and subject them to the necessary treatment to burnish the inner plated surfaces thereof without causing damage thereto.

The object'of the invention is an apparatus capable of performing these functions.

With this and other objects in view, the invention com- 'prises a collet actuable to removably hold a cylindrical article with its center line in a given position and an article working tool mounted on a shaft having its axis normally coincident with the center `line of the article but movable not only laterally but axially to move the tool into engagement with the inner surface of`the article.

In the present embodiment of the invention the article is a fused quartz cylinder firrnly held in a collet which is rotatable in one direction at a slow rate of speed, while the tool, which is a Wire brush is given three motions, one a rotary motion at a fast rate of speed in a direction opposite that of the collet, a lateral motion to move the brush into engagement with the inner surface of 'the article and an aXial motion to move the brush longitudinally of the article. These motions of the tool or brush are under the automatic control of mechanisms, driven by a motor, causing the tool or brush to star-t from a normal position eoncentric with the article and collet,

go through its various Operating motions during one cycle of operation of the apparatus and return to rest at the normal position.

Other objects and advantages will berapparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the apparatus;

Pig. 2 is substantially a top plan view of the apparatus with the cover removed;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the collet illustrating the Operating position of the tool;

Fig. 4 is an isometric view of the article;

Fig. 5 is a Vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2, showing the apparatus in Operating position while Fig. 2 illustrates the apparatus in its stop position, and

Fig. 6 is a Vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of Fig. Z.

The apparatus (as shown in Fig. 1) is completely enclosed in a housing 10, having a front panel 11 disposed at an angle with respect to a bench 12 on which the apparatus is disposed so that the operator may more conveniently feed articles 13, with silver plated inner sur- 2,784,48.3 Patented Mar. 12, 1957 ICC faces 14 singly to the collet illustrated generally at 15 and remove the finished articles therefrom. In addition to the collet 15, the panel includes a main switch 16, a starter switch 17, a fuse 18 and a lamp 19.

The collet 15 begins with a hub 22 of a gear 23 journalled in bearings 24, the housing 25 of which is mounted on the panel 11. The outer portion of the hub 22 (as shown in Fig. 6) is `threaded internally to receive the external threads of a portion 27 of a knurled wheel 28. lt will be noted that a portion 29 adjacent the aperture of the wheel 28 has a tapered inner surface engaging a tapered outer `portion of an annular member 31 slidably disposed in the 'portion 27 of the knurled wheel so that rotation of the knurled wheel in one direction will cause its portion 29 to move the tapered end 30 of the annular member 31 to the left to compress a fiexible annular member 32 formed of suitable material such as neoprene. Pig. 6 illustrates one of the articles 13 disposed in the collet against a stop 33 where it is held by the compressed retaining member 32. Normally the retaining member 32, when not compressed, has an inner diameter larger than the article to permit free movement of the articles into and out of the collet. However, com- `pression of the resilient member through the action of the knurled wheel will apply a uniform force circumferentially of the article to hold it against (lisplacement.

The panel 11 with the collet 15 is secured to a base or frame 36 which is mounted in the housing and supports an electric 'motor 37 which constitutes the `power means 'for the apparatus. The motor 37 is provided with a belt and pulley connection 38 to a shaft 39 which is journalled in suitable bearings disposed in brackets 4h mounted on the frame 36. A pinion 41, mounted on the forward end of the shaft 39, interengages the gear 23 to drive the gear with the collet at a predetermined slow rate of speed inone direction.

A :carriage 44 has arms 45 disposed adjiacent the lower surface and near the ends thereof. The arms 45 are apertured to receive and house bearings mounted on the shaft 39 adjacent the brackets 40 so that the carriage may be rockably supportedby the bearings on the shaft. The upper portion of the carriage 44 has a housing 45' for a mechanism to be associated with the fiinshing tool 46 which, in the present embodiment of the invention, is a wire brush. The tool 46 is mounted on the forward end of a shaft 47 which extends to the left into the housing 45' where it is provided with a shoulder 48 held against a thrust bearing 49 by a spring .50. The thrust bearing 49 is interposed between the collar 48 and a piston-like element 52 slidable in the housing 45' and carrying a cam roller 53 at its outer end. At this portion of the housing, aligned 'slots 54 are provided for movement of a heart-shaped 'cam 56 relative to the roller 53.

The carriage 44 has a bearing bracket '60 mounted on one end thereof and forrned with a circular `portion 61 concentric with the shaft 47 to support `a bearing 62 for the hub of a gear '63. The gear 63, which is disposed concentric with the shaft 47, is keyed at 64 thereto permitting aXial movement of the shaft resulting from the action of the cam 56. The gear 63 is connected through an intermediate gear 66 to a gear 67 mounted on the shaft 39 so that the shaft 47 with the tool 46 will be driven in a direction opposite that of the article 13 and collet 15 and at a faster rate of speed.

The heart-shaped cam 56 is mounted on a shaft 70, journalled in suitable bearings in the carriage 44, and has a worm gear 71 mounted thereon. A worm 72 (Figs. 2 and 5) mounted on the shaft 39 interengages the worm gear 71. Weighted ar-ms 74 are secured to the housing 45 of the carriage 44 in alignment with each other and on opposite sides thereof to serve to substantially counterbalance the carriage.

In Figs. 2 and 5, it will be noted that the worm 72 interengages another worm gear 76 which is a part of the timing mechanism for the apparatus. The worm gear 76 is mounted on a shaft journalled in suitable bearings supported by a bracket 78 fixed to the frame 36 and having a pinion 79 formed or mounted on the upper end thereof. A cam-like member 91 is driven by pinion 79 through intermediate gear 81 and gear 30, but the length of time the apparatus remains in operation is determined by the speed of rotation of the cam-like member 91 which is secured to shaft 85. This speed is Varied by the introduction of change gears of various sizes at 80 attached, but removable, to shaft 85. The intermediate gear 31 is rotatably mounted on spindle 82. This spindle in turn is mounted in the arcuate aperture 83 in bracket 7 8, which is concentric with the aXis of the shaft 77. Accordingly, the intermediate gear 81, which remains constantly engaged with pinion 79 is varied in the arcuate aperture to interengage the various change gears 80.

The gear 80 is mounted on the upper end of a shaft S5, journalled in suitable bearings, While a cam 86 is mounted on the lower end thereof. The cam 86 is of the contour shown in Pig. 2, Vand is positioned to engage a slide 87 which rests upon the frame 36 in a slot 88 of the bearing bracket 84. The opposite end of the slide 87 is positioned to engage a projection 39 fixed to the carriage 44 to rock it about the axis of -the shaft 39 to return the shaft 47 and tool 46 to their normal or starting position.

The cam-like member 91 mounted on the undersurface of the gear 80 is positioned to actuate a roller 92 on an arm 93 of a switch 94. In the simple wiring diagram (shown in Pig. the switch 94 is in a circuit with the motor 37 including the main switch 16, the starter switch 17, the fuse 18 and the lamp 19. A battery 95 represents the source of electrical energy and although the switch 94, which is of the normally closed type, is actuated into open position by the cam 91 (as shown in Fig. 2) when the shaft 47 and brush 46 have returned to their normal concentric positions, the apparatus may be started by pressing the switch 17 and holding the circuit through the motor 37 closed until the cam 91 has moved away from the roller 92.

Considering now the operation of the apparatus, it will be apparent that, with the collet 15 open, a cylindrical article 13 may be inserted therein against the stop 33 and firmly held centrally in the collet by pressure of the resilient element 32 compressed by rotation of the knurled wheel 28. The apparatus may be started by pressing the switch 17 closed, `causing rotation of the shaft 47 with the brush 46, after which the cam 86 permits the slide 87 to move to the right and the carriage 44 with its associated mechanism to rock counterclockwise (Fig. 5) about the shaft 39 to move the shaft 47 with the brush 46 (as shown in Fig. 3) to the left where the brush will be held under a predetermined pressure against the inner surface of the article while rotating in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the article. At the same time, reciprocal motion is imparted 4 r 'to the brush against the force of the spring 50 (Fig. 6) through the action of the cam 56. These various actions take place during one cycle of operation of the apparatus, returning the brush not only to its innermost posi- -tion (as shown in Fig. 6) but to a position concentric with the collet and article by the time the cam 91, travelling with the gear 80, reaches the roller 92 and actuates the switch 94 into open position. At this time, the knurled wheel may be actuated to release the finished article which may be removed and another article inserted in the collet for the next operation of the apparatus.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

An apparatus for finishing the inner surface of a cylindrical article of a given length comprising a rotatable collet actuable to removably hold the article with its centerline coincident with the axis of the collet, a rotatable working tool, a shaft rota'tably supported with its aXis normally coincident with the axis of the collet and adapted to support the tool with its aXis normally coincident with the centerline of the article, energizable power means adapted when energized to rotate the collet and article in one direction, means operatively connecting the shaft to the power means to cause rotation of the 'shaft and tool in the opposite direction when the power means is energized, a mechanism, including cams operable in timed relation with each other, operatively connected to the power means, one of said cams being actuable through single cycles to move the shaft and tool axially from and back to their normal positions a distance at least equal the length of the article, the other of said cams being actuable through single cycles to move the shaft and tool laterally from their normal positions to position and hold the tool in engagenient with lthe inner surface during its reciprocable working movement and then return the shaft and tool laterally to their normal positions, means actuable to energize the power means, and means movable with the mechanism to cause de-energization of 'the power means when the shaft and tool return laterally and axially to their normal positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,198,612 Bright Sept. 197 1916 1,491,922 Rockwell Apr. 29, 1924 1,655,821 Rich Jan. 10, 1928 1,990,469 Bryant et al. Feb. 12, 1935 1,997,978 Raule Apr. 16, 1935 2,003,713 Highberg June 4, 1935 2,277,589 Hanson Mar. 24, 1942 2,675,602 Kern Apr. 20, 1954 2,677,921 Grobey May 11, 1954 

